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Business Solutions for Maximizing Profits October 2007
For over a dozen years, NSPG has been providing the tools that allow contractors to increase profits and minimize business hassles. With our simple-to-use-tools, you can make being a business owner what you always wanted to it be - successful, profitable and rewarding.

Good Business Practices
This past month brought a wide range of flat rate and business success stories our way.  So, instead of a single article, we'll combine a few observations and some advice on how successful businesses do things that you can apply to your business.

Rick Newman, the business writer at usnews.com, had an interesting article about a recent Bruce Springsteen concert.  It's hard to see how a concert by a 58 year old rock star could apply to our industry, but he makes several good points that are relevant to just about any business.

In the article he talks about how Bruce does the things successful businesses try to do every day.  Things like:

  • Innovate.

  • Never let your customers rest.

  • Give the people what they want.

  • Share the Credit.

  • Love what you do.

He talks about Springsteen innovating in the way he presents his music.  He adds new interpretations of old songs, add new instruments to the mix, changes the tempo and tenor of some songs to enhance and update them. 

These are the same types of changes that successful businesses make every day.  They add new products, move into new markets, change how they do things to take advantage of current fashion and technology.  They push the envelope to stay fresh and attractive to their customer base.  Click on Bruce's picture to see the whole article.

Many of you know Mike Conroy here at NSPG.  While he's not nearly as old as Bruce is, he's always looking to push the limit and make the changes needed for success.  Back in September of 2005 we wrote about his extensive wine making hobby.  Last year, Mike decided he needed a more active outlet for his creative and competitive instincts.  He took up kite boarding.

In May, while Mike was still early in the learning phase of the sport, we reported on his chosen sport, how it related to his attitude about getting down to business, and, especially, determining your own profitable selling price and overcoming your fear of raising your prices to your profitable level.  Here's a bit of what he had to say in May.

Click for full size image of Mike Conroy flying on his board.My real goal is to kite in the ocean and surf the waves. This is quite a bit different from the bay because I'll have a third variable to deal with - big waves crashing into me. My fear of failure in the ocean held me back from my goal. My fear of injury or even death held me back from fully committing to a move from the bay to the ocean.

So here I go, I take a few steps into the ocean and the waves are breaking on me and knocking me back onto the beach. Every time I try a get out I get knocked back. One reason is that I was not fully committed to getting past the breaking waves. At some point I gathered the strength to fully dive the kite, and pull myself out past the breaking waves.

The only way get out past the breaking waves was to fully commit and go full steam ahead. Well when I finally got past the rough breaking waves, the water was calm and serene. This time I was on top of the breaking waves, not getting crushed by them.

So my message to you is: fully commit to your pricing. You know it's right. Take a few breaking waves, and get past them to business serenity. If you need a little help in reaching your business goals, give me a call. We all need a bit of help from time to time. Success is waiting..

This month we also heard about another example of that can-do attitude, and the willingness to try something new to achieve your success in an industry just about as far from ours as you can get.  An NSPG employee took a cruise on Norwegian Cruise Lines this past month. 

NCL has broken from the long standing cruise tradition with their "Free Style" cruising.  Essentially this is just an elimination of the regimented meal and entertainment times.  On a cruise in the past, you at dinner when they told you to at the same table with the same passengers every night.  This meant that you had the same conversations, same waiters, same everything each day of the cruise. 

Under this old scheme, you were also expected to tip the staff a set amount ($20 per day per passenger) for the cruise.  The idea was probably to assure the best service because at the end of the cruise, you would be tipping the staff based on how well they did.  This was always a hassle on the last day running around giving out tips.  It also made it seem like the only reason the staff did anything for you was because you might tip them.

Well, NCL has gone Flat Rate.  They include the tip in your room charges at the rate they set.  When you get on board, you know what it will cost, except for alcohol.  No surprises, no hassles.  Since you will not be directly tipping, the staff is free to work at whatever level they choose because they get paid the same amount anyway.

So, what was the service like?  Excellent!  Of the hundreds of employees on the ship, they saw only a couple who did not smile and say hello every day.  Going the extra mile was the rule, not the exception.  When you asked a question, the response was not only to answer the question, but to guide you to whatever you needed.  It was like these employees were professionals and knew that their primary job was to meet and exceed the traveler's expectations.  Are your employees trained and motivated to exceed expectations?

The entire cruise, except for customs at both ends, was a living illustration of how to run a business.  The simplicity of Flat Rate pricing combine with professional service is how all businesses should work.  This is the way to run a business that will easily grow through word of mouth.

Give Mike Conroy a call to discuss your numbers, your flat rate books, or finding resources to help you bring this type of professionalism to your own business.  He always enjoys dispensing the knowledge he has acquired talking to successful business owners around the world.


Measure Monthly, Adjust Quarterly
 & Achieve Annual Profit Goals


 On-Line Resources

Toilet Shaped House


Yes, This is a real company.

100 Years in the Business
Twin brothers retire after almost 50 years each on the job.

130 Year Old Plumbing Business
So, you thought your business has been around for a ling time?

In This Issue

Phone 800 841-8542
Freebie of
the Month

The freebie of the month is a web site or product that we feel gives you some-thing worth looking at or using that costs you nothing.

GuerillaMail is a web site that provides disposable, temporary email addresses.  You might wonder why you might need a temporary email address.

The best reason is to keep your email box free from spam. 

If you belong to any on line discussion groups, or sign up for on line contests, they almost always require you to provide an email address even though they never use it.  This email address can be visible to some users, and could therefore be harvested by spammers.

GuerillaMail gives you an easy way to provide a temporary address so you can sign up for things on the web while providing no link to your real email inbox.  In fact, they never ask for any type of information, so even GuerillaMail cannot spam you.

It's an easy to use, useful tool for anyone who takes advantage of the many sources of entertainment and information available on the Web.

If you have a favorite Free site, let us know.
nspginfo@nspgweb.com


Quotes of the Month

It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.
                 
James Madison

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
                John F. Kennedy
Speech prepared for delivery on  the day of his assassination.

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
                     Will Rogers

Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish, and he'll buy a funny hat.
Talk to a hungry man about fish, and you're a consultant.
                     Scott Adams


 


Ever Wonder

Where Did the Money Go?


Windows Vista

The newest version of Windows was released earlier this year.  We are advising our users to wait a while before moving to Windows Vista.

Certain OEMs like Dell are still selling business systems with Windows XP on them, so you will not be forced into the move yet.  Microsoft will issue another major XP patch in 2008. 

Microsoft will support XP into 2014.  That should allow plenty of time to make the transition.



Magnetic Calendar

The next Money Masters® will be at the Marriott Denver in Greenville, SC on November 16 & 17, 2007 with a visit to Corley Plumbing & Electric.

Corley Plumbing & Electric is not a big company but it is profitable and well run.  Owner Chris Corley has engineered a self-running, profitable company. A four-man management team takes care of the day-to-day operations of the company. Corley takes two days off a week to work on the company or personal time off.

Each Tuesday morning, the management team meets to review their goals and objectives. This company operates on a budget. The management team is accountable for staying on budget. Corley says he discovered a budget was one of the best business management and personal freedom tools he had implemented. It allows him and his management team to see situations coming before they become issues.

This company has good systems and procedures in place but Corley didn’t do it alone. He had help. A member of Nexstar for 11 years, Corley will admit his company is the culmination of training and experience he has picked up from the sharing with others.

Friday:
7:00 - 7:30 a.m. Breakfast & Registration
7:30 - 12:30 Money Masters Seminar
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch
1:30 - 5:30 Tour of Corley Plumbing & Electric
6:00 - 10:00 Dinner & Entertainment
Saturday:
7:00 - 7:30 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 - 12:00 Money Masters Seminar
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch
1:00 - 3:00 Money Masters Seminar, Nexstar® Showcase
Register for Money Masters Here

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Numbers Cruncher and NSPG Flat Rate Price Books training

 

     HVAC Service Invoice   


Ever Wonder

Where Did the Money Go?

    

Portable Desk for forms and invoices
Portable Desk

    

Call 800-841-8542 now so we can answer your questions and show how we can help you build a more profitable business.

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NSPG, Inc. PO Box 1168, Manahawkin, NJ 08050
800-841-8542
201-767-5520
Our E-mail address: nspginfo@nspgweb.com